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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Vacation....

We are finally home! As my last post said, we went to help some dear friends work on their new home. Ken and Cathy bought a beautiful country home last week and before they move into it they want to clean, paint and do repairs. We worked 3 days on cleaning and painting. Cathy picked out some beautiful soft colors. Originally the kitchen was red, a deep dark red. The cabinets are an off white with beautiful rope trim and crown molding. Because of the dark red paint the cabinets look like they were standing off the wall and Cathy didn't like them. Once the wall was toned down in a neutral color the cabinets began to shine as the beautiful cabinets they always were. Her kitchen looks wonderful. The stove, fridge and microwave were so nasty! I don't know about you but I would be completely embarrassed to leave a house in that condition for the buyer. Once all that was cleaned they looked brand new....another plus. The dishwasher was a loss; it was broken so they bought a new one. Cathy's kitchen looks awesome. The main bath was caked with soap scum. I pulled on my trusty yellow cleaning gloves and set to work. An hour later, the fixtures were shining and the bathroom sparkled. But this isn't the big story....

The big story is they live just outside of Nashville. We arrived on Wednesday of last week. Sometime Wednesday night the rain moved in. It rained and it rained and it rained. They are staying in a rental place while they work on their house. By the time we arrived at the house on Thursday water was rushing through the culverts. I stood at the window and watched and must admit I sensed a creepy crawly rope of fear snake up my spine. All that water had to be rushing somewhere. We worked all day and then left for their rental. As we drove through the country lanes we were astounded to see gulleys of water ripping through people’s yards. It was frightening. You reach Ken and Cathy’s house by crossing over 2 main bridges; one is over a creek and one is over a river. There is a river front road with shops and a river walk area and a bridge (it looks like a railroad bridge) that extends across the river. Friday morning as we drove through this area it was clear to see the river was rising. The water was higher on the bridge pilings and it was swifter and filled with debris. I mentioned that it was going to flood but Cathy didn’t think so. Sunday the river was a rushing current of madness and it had flooded the river walk area. Benches and signs were covered with the muddy murk and street lamps were knocked over. It was definitely obvious it was going to move up to the roadway and the businesses that operated just feet from it. As you guessed, it wasn't long before the river flooded the roadway choking off traffic and creating a disaster for the business owners in that area.

My Sweetie and I left early Monday to return home. We took I-24 in Nashville but were re-routed off of it and onto another 4 lane road. After a few miles we were re-routed off of that road and onto a residential road. We finally made it out of the area and breathed a sigh of relief. We took our time driving home stopping at a couple of antique stores and driving by a lake. We made it home a little after 11:00PM, pulled our bags out of the car, took a shower and fell into bed. We need a vacation from a vacation.

3 comments:

Hi Willa...welcome back! The devastation in Tennessee is heart wrenching! I love the Franklin/Spring Hill area and hope to someday relocate there and I was saddened to see what the flood waters have done! Glad you were all safe!!Dina

Welcome back Willa. It's so nice that you were able to go help your friends in their new home. It sounds like it will be beautiful once they are all finished. I am so sorry to hear about all the damage in that area!Kim

Glad you are home! That's so wonderful that you were able to go and spend so much time helping your friends! I heard about the Nashville floods, but didn't realize that's where you were. Glad God kept you all safe there and brought you home safely!